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Kayak Cross Becomes Hit of Paris Games Thanks Mostly to Its Beautiful Chaos

Andy Nesbitt

Boris Neveu of Team France competes during the Canoe Slalom Men's Kayak Cross Quarterfinal Three on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France.
Boris Neveu of Team France competes during the Canoe Slalom Men's Kayak Cross Quarterfinal Three on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. / (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

One of the newest sports in the Olympics is taking over the Paris Games, mostly because it's so beautifully chaotic, which is what people seem to be loving about it on social media.

The sport is called kayak cross and it is absolutely bananas. It starts with four kayakers being dropped down into the water from a ramp and off they go, looking to finish the 210-meter course as quickly as possible. They battle against each other and some rapids while making sure they go through all the parts of the course that they need to pass to be official.

But mostly it's just chaos. Look at this:

Amazing.

Fans love it:

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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